The Voice of Southwest Louisiana

Who Votes in the
March 5th Election?
By LeNae
Goolsby, JD
“If you cannot be positive,
at least be quiet.”
~ Joel Osteen
One of my core beliefs is that life happens
for me, not to me. This is not a belief
that I was imprinted with during the
formative years of my childhood, nor was
it a belief that I bought into from church
or school, or other potential influencers
growing up. In fact, for a better part of
my young adult life, it did not at all appear
that my life was doing anything other than
pulling me down and working overtime to
hold me back in the muck and the mire of
struggle and lack.
It was not until a few years ago, actually,
that I consciously chose to shift myself out
of the subconscious and innate belief that
I am destined to be “like a plastic bag drifting
through the wind,” as Katy Perry puts it.
I chose to adopt a new belief, a belief that
actually serves me, that actually puts me
more into alignment with faith, peace, and
joy. Ergo, life happens for me.
The biblical corollary to this is, “And we
know that in all things God works for the
good of those who love him, who have
been called according to his purpose.” Romans
8:28. Guess what? As all people are
aspect of the Divine, and all aspects of the
Divine are “called,” life is happening for all
of us, all of the time.
“When you complain you make
yourself a victim. Leave the situation,
change the situation, or
accept it. All else is madness.”
~ Ekhart Tolle
Last week I had the oddest day. The kids
were 20 minutes late for school because
we sat in traffic for 40 minutes. The dog
got sick in the back of my car on the way
to taking him to the vet. After waiting for 2
hours for the auto detailer to clean what I
could not, I had to wait another 40 minutes
because for some bizarre reason they neglected
to so much as vacuum the back of
the SUV where the incident occurred.
At the end of the day I calculated that
I had spent about 4 hours of my day just
waiting. If this kind of day had happened
to me a few years ago I would have complained
myself into an absolute state of
disgust, angst and ire. But here’s the thing
with complaining, not only does it self-induce
unnecessary stress, but doing so actually
creates more opportunities to complain
about. What we speak about, we
bring about.
“If you don’t like something,
change it. If you can’t change it,
change your attitude.
Don’t complain.”
~ Maya Angelou
Instead of putting more and more negative
energy into a situation that I do not
prefer, I choose to pivot my attention to
what I do desire. One of the most practical
methods I have discovered for accomplishing
this is to consciously choose to step
outside of my immediate emotional state
and become an unattached observer to
the experience.
For example, when I am sitting in traffic
on a clear sunny day for no apparent
good reason, and I notice that I am getting
stressed out because being late is something
that I do not prefer to be, I choose to
release my state of frustration and agitation,
and just notice that yep, I’m in traffic.
Yep, I’m probably going to be late. It is what
it is, and this is happening for me, even if I
do not understand why or how. My mantra
of choice becomes, “All is well,” because,
even if it does not immediately register in
our reality, all really is well.
LeNae Goolsby, JD
is a Personal
Empowerment Life
Coach and the
Practice Administrator for Infinite Health
Integrative Medicine Center. She is also an
adored wife, blessed mother of three
awesome and amazing kids, and an
infinite being in a body working on
counting her blessings at every stoplight.
The upcoming
March 5th
Presidential
Preference
Primary is a
CLOSED PARTY
PRIMARY by the
choice of the Democrat and Republican
parties in Louisiana.
That means only Democrats
will vote for candidates on the
Democratic Party Ballot and
only Republicans will vote for
Republican candidates on the
Republican Party Ballot.
Angie Quienalty, Calcasieu
Parish Registrar of Voters, reminds
us to exercise our right to
vote. “A lot of people have sacrificed
and given their lives so we
have the right to vote on leaders
who make decisions that affect
our daily lives,” Quienalty said.
“Other countries would love to
have this election process.”
Echoing Quienalty’s statements,
Lynn Jones, Calcasieu
Parish Clerk of Court, said,
“While you read this, there is a
soldier in a foreign land fighting
for his or her life – and for your
safety. This soldier has left family,
parents and children behind.
This soldier is not the first. He
or she is one of so many who
fought or died for you and me
and our freedoms. This should
give us great pause. To cast your
vote, even if you can’t agree fully
with the options or the candidates,
is to honor those who
have literally given everything
to help you keep the right to do
so.” Continues Jones, “Your vote
is an affirmation of freedom. It
is a privilege some would, and
have, given their life to exercise.”
The March 5, 2016 Presidential
Preference Primary and Municipal
Primary is a Closed Party
Election in Louisiana. A Closed
Party Election means voters
wishing to vote in this election
must be registered Democrat
or Republican. If you are registered
as No Party, None, Other
Party, Green, Reform or Libertarian
Party Member you will NOT
be eligible to vote in the Presidential
Preference Party Primary
on March 5th. The opportunity
to change your party affiliation
has passed for this election. This
is the only election in the state
that is restricted to party affiliation.
Independents and members
of other parties will only be
able to vote on local issues. For
additional information regarding
your voting status, ballot
information, registering to vote,
upcoming election dates and
more go to: www.sos.la.gov/
electionsandvoting, www.calclerkofcourt.com/elections,
or
geuxvote.com. Additional information
can be obtained by
calling the Registrar of Voters’
office at 337-721-4000 or the
Clerk of Court’s office at 337-
437-3500.
The Open Primary Presidential
and Congressional Election
will be November 8, 2016. All
registered voters will have the
opportunity to participate in
this election. Exercise your right
and privilege to vote by going
to the polls on every Election
Day and voting. Early Voting
dates: Saturday, February 20th
– Saturday, February 27th (excluding
Sunday). Locations for
Early Voting: Registrar of Voters
Office hours: 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM;
West Cal Business Center at 500
A N. Huntington Bldg. B (next
to police station); Moss Bluff Library
261 Parish Road.
LOCAL NEWS, EVENTS, STORIES & PEOPLE
FEBRUARY 2016 THEVOICEOFSOUTHWESTLA.COM Volume 3 • Number 7 Volume 3 • Number 7 THEVOICEOFSOUTHWESTLA.COM FEBRUARY 2016